Shell-less eggs

my first bag didn't mention size either, so when I saw the Manna Pro brandView attachment 1571553 that said pullet sized, I thought it would be finer... but it doesn't appear to be. Actually it doesn't seem to be as fine as the Dumor brand was.
Huh......
Thanks for the pic!
Manna Pro is a master marketer.
Wonders if they have 'rooster sized' too?:lol:
SMH.
 
I was feeding layer feed until I allowed my broody girl to hatch out some eggs I bought. Then they were basically eating the same as the chicks. I recently switched to Nutrena All Flock. DH really likes egg salad, so between making that and other uses of eggs, we can get a small pile of egg shells. I just break them up a little more, throw them in the toaster oven (rather than heating the big oven) for 15/20 minutes or so at about 275/300* (I'm not too exact, LOL). A hint if you do this, parchment paper keeps them from sticking to the baking sheet. Then I use the side of a coffee cup or whatever is handy to crush them into tiny pieces. The girls love them way more than the OS. I put them in a sealed dish and ration them out a little every day or two. I've never had a problem with them damaging their eggs to eat the shell, although I know some people have had that concern.

I tried this the past 2 days and it's been working brilliantly....they really seem to enjoy them, even the Australorp. Especially when I sprinkled some around the run. I so appreciate the help!
 
Myself, and many of my friends kept anywhere from 75 to several thousands of game fowl and all of the roosters ate laying pellets. As a result none of these game roosters ever had a single day that they suffered from kidney issues or enlarged prostate glands.
:oops:

Most softshell eggs are the result of the after effects of diseases like Newcastle or Infectious Bronchitis. These diseases settle on the shell gland or other parts of a hens' reproductive track and like the Mumps settling on little boys testacies this damage is life long. Internal laying, is one other issue that these diseases can lead to.

I hope this isn't caused by disease. They have all been very healthy, running around being animated, shiny and happy. Hopefully this will all work itself out. As far as your experience with the roos, I'm glad to hear the layer pellets weren't a problem. I'll most likely get some layer feed for my next bag. Thanks a bunch!
 
my first bag didn't mention size either, so when I saw the Manna Pro brand... that said pullet sized, I thought it would be finer... but it doesn't appear to be. Actually it doesn't seem to be as fine as the Dumor brand was.

Because oyster shell is ONLY consumed by adult pullets and hens there is no reason to have different sizes of oyster shell for different ages of chickens.

The inclusion of the word "pullet" on the sack is nothing but a lame marketing ploy that is intended to snag the patronage of new chicken keepers. Then the hope is that you will continue buying the companie's products regardless of price or performance.
 
Because oyster shell is ONLY co1nsumed by adult pullets and hens there is no reason to have different sizes of oyster shell for different ages of chickens.

The inclusion of the word "pullet" on the sack is nothing but a lame marketing ploy that is intended to snag the patronage of new chicken keepers. Then the hope is that you will continue buying the companie's products regardless of price or performance.
Yeah, I figured that out. The only reason it caught my eye and I fell for it is because my girls are so doggone fussy about the bigger chunks. There was a while that they didn't eat pellets either and I actually would put a little water in the crumbles so they would stick together a bit and that is how they liked them. FUSSY! Now they are eating the pellets ok. The 16 week old chicks aren't nearly as fussy as the older girls have been their whole lives.
 
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Yeah, I figured that out. The only reason it caught my eye and I fell for it is because my girls are so doggone fussy about the bigger chunks. There was a while that they didn't eat pellets either and I actually would put a little water in the crumbles so they would stick together a bit and that is how they liked them. FUSSY! Now they are eating the pellets ok. The 16 week old chicks aren't nearly as fussy as the older girls have been their whole lives.

Chickens hate new things. That is in fact one reason that peoples chickens go Ape s*** when the new chicken keeper enters the run. To your fowl you look like a terrifying monster intent on eating your chickens alive or otherwise. With time and patience chickens will become use to almost anything and accept everything.
 
That is interesting about the size. My bag doesn't have a size on it. I'm going to try sprinkling it around in their run to see if they eat more of it. Do you buy the crushed eggshells or make them? What you said about stress makes alot of sense.....I could see that happening. I explained my coop situation in the previous response, but they also have huge, mature shrubbery that they like to roost in and make little nests and dust-bath holes under. A few times they layed in my horses' hay boxes. As they matured they preferred to just head back to the coop.

So are you feeding layer pellets then with your OS/eggshells?
So i had a shell-less egg issue about a month ago. I still get a random one every now and then. As my girls were starting to produce i didn’t switch to layer feed soon enough. I don’t have a roo but i had heard it wasn’t good for my non layers. So i was on a flock raiser with oyster on the side. I had to switch over to a layer feed. I continued to offer oyster shellsince the problem seemed to be multiple pullets. I can’t speak for the rooster but the egg issue should be fixed up pretty quickly with a layer feed. Maybe 2-4 weeks.
 
Just realized I never answered this. The bag I'm feeding currently is 18%, but the one I just bought that is pelleted will be 17%. Is that bad?
Was just curious. IMO the protein percentage is good to know...to balance out with the scratch I feed.

As my girls were starting to produce i didn’t switch to layer feed soon enough. I don’t have a roo but i had heard it wasn’t good for my non layers. So i was on a flock raiser with oyster on the side.
I have used this consistently for 5 years, and my pullets eggs are hard as rocks. Tho I do have to 'show' the pullets the OS, this year I just tossed some out on the ground with the scratch a few times and they started eating it out of the shell feeder.
Have had a couple older birds that consistently laid softies, but that was probably due to disease.
 

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